Your favorite Monkey Island game

[Remi]

Updated list for me, which could change any which day...

 

1. MI2
2. MI1
3. ReMI
4. Tales (Just kept everyone in suspense)
5. EMI
6. CMI

[LowLevel]

It's really difficult for me to separate the three Gilbertian games. It's a bit like asking me to rank each movie of the Back to the Future franchise: while some are better than others, I have always considered it a trilogy that should be consumed in chronological order and considered as a whole story, so:

 

1) The Secret of Monkey Island

1) Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge

1) Return to Monkey Island

 

2) The Curse of Monkey Island

3) Tales of Monkey Island

4) Escape from Monkey Island

 

If I really have to rank the games of the Gilbertian trilogy, I would say: Revenge, Return, Secret.

 

[Jake]

14 minutes ago, Remi said:

Updated list for me, which could change any which day...

 

1. MI2
2. MI1
3. ReMI
4. EMI
5. CMI

0. Tales, unspoken but I know it’s there at the top. Thank you Remi. 

[Remi]

Just now, Jake said:

0. Tales, unspoken but I know it’s there at the top. Thank you Remi. 

It was #4, god, everybody knows that.

[BaronGrackle]

I am always interested when somebody has Escape as penultimate, but then a different MI game as last.

[Staple Remover]

2 hours ago, BaronGrackle said:

If I can put The Cave on the list, move it to #1. Maybe the Hillbilly is in Guybrush's family. 😛 But I got the message from that game, about obsession with what we perceive as our heart's desire driving us away from life itself.

I think you’ve sold me on doing a Cave replay. I don’t remember much about my first playthrough. 

[demone]

From both a gameplay and story perspective:

1: Return

2: Curse

3: MI2

4: MI1

5: Tales

6: Escape

 

From strictly a story perspective:

1: Return

2: Tales

3: MI2

4: Curse

5: MI1

6: Escape

 

[BaronGrackle]

13 minutes ago, demone said:

From both a gameplay and story perspective:

1: Return

2: Curse

3: MI2

4: MI1

5: Tales

6: Escape

 

From strictly a story perspective:

1: Return

2: Tales

3: MI2

4: Curse

5: MI1

6: Escape

 

And the first shall be first, and the last shall be last.

[demone]

1 hour ago, BaronGrackle said:

And the first shall be first, and the last shall be last.

Yeah, I should also point out that I very much enjoy Escape, both in gameplay and story. It's just a testament to how much I enjoy the others and not a testament to how bad it is. There are several things I would change, such as how Murray was used, but I still very much enjoy it. 

 

Edited September 26, 2022 by demone

[BaronGrackle]

36 minutes ago, demone said:

Yeah, I should also point out that I very much enjoy Escape, both in gameplay and story. It's just a testament to how much I enjoy the others and not a testament to how bad it is. There are several things I would change, such as how Murray was used, but I still very much enjoy it. 

 

Judge me harshly when I reflect that my opinion of Escape is overly biased by it not beginning with "Deep in the Caribbean".

[Alexandra IDV]

On 9/20/2022 at 3:16 PM, Alexandra IDV said:

Not far enough into Return to rank it, but...

 

1. MI2

2. Secret

3. Curse

4. Tales

5. Escape

I guess we're all posting our updated rankings, and being a big fan of ranking things I guess I gotta, too. I considered for some time whether Return is tied with Curse for me, but although I think it does do several things better, I will in the end put it just below Curse at #4.

[Xantospoc]

6) Escape from Monkey Island - 

EfMI is not a terrible point and click, but at times it really feels painful, mischaracterizing the characters even further than what Curse did and the puzzling lore about insults and way more... even gameplay wise, the tank control are painful (at least for PC), the maps hold up until the Monkey Island finale with lots of boring puzzles.  All in all, my least favorite and the only one I refuse to replay given how difficult it was to run on my PC

 

5) Tales

Tales is a difficult beast to describe, as it's a 5 episode series, and the tones and mood of the stories are inconsistent at best. It suffers of very low production values, with lots of repeated models. While I find Winston hilarious, I consider Morgan LeFlay and Marquis LeSinge not fully realized despite their huge impact to the story. I love what they do to the main trio, and I wouldn't have minded to follow the hints of the Voodoo Lady being evil. Episode 3 and 5 are the best, but all in all... it felt very forgettable, but not bad. 

 

I will never forgive them for trying to make "You fight like a cow" sound badass. It was stupid.

 

4) Curse 

Curse is a good game, maybe even great... but it has a flaw: it is a sequel to the original Monkey Island duo-logy. On its own, it is a very good game, almost outstanding, with plenty of good moments. Blood Island and Plunder Island were great places, and the Barber Pirate Trio and KIng Andre, very funny and good characters. LeChuck, while he is at his funniest here, balances it out with heinous acts (killing the Big Whoop crew, ruining the Goodsoup Family). 

 

However, Guybrush's character was brought back to his 1 incarnation, Elaine was turned into a Damsel in Distress until the final act (admittedly, it was Guybrush's fault...) and the two final chapters... they were bad, took me out of the experience and the finale was underwhelming, all while trying to DESPERATELY fix the ending of 2 (just say it's a reboot)

 

Oh, also, Murray is here. Hilarious at the beginning but... I must admit though, he was getting annoying by the end.

Also, I am sad the italian version didn't have the 'A Pirate I was meant to be' song. I guess too hard to fix into the iMUSE

 

3) Secret of Monkey Island

The original, and what a banger it was. What can I say of this iconic masterpiece that people haven't praised? The Special Edition voicework is top notch, the art direction... uh.... yeah.... I am not sure what they were thinking when it comes to that. I am not a fan of Guybrush and Elaine, but here it was so obviously a joke. LeChuck... was okay, he needed more presence. The dialogue and the humor on spot and I have laughed a lot of times.

 

Monkey Island is a little tedious to travel through, but that is the worst I can think

 

2) Return to Monkey Island

... I won't lie, I love this game. I wish it had better puzzles and the jokes were a little sharper, but the story and the world was top notch. As someone who didn't enjoy the art direction, it fits perfectly given the context, and I am glad to have seen the continuation of the series by Ron GIlbert. I might have enjoyed watching maybe Monkey Island 3, but alas, that has been lost ever since Gilbert left to create Humongous Entertainment.

LeChuck was a bit weird, and I think it goes beyond the unfortunate recast due to Boen's old age and retirement. Maybe, eventually, this game will become the best, but it just misses the one grain of brilliance to beat my favorite

 

1) Le Chuck's Revenge

Basically everything I loved of Secret of Monkey Island, but better: a more open, vivid world, bigger puzzles, a more driven and scarier villain, and ... what I like, the plot behind the plot, with Guybrush's struggling nature. I just love how there is more than just a silly adventure, treated earnestly, although still with plenty of irony.

Right now LCR is my favorite with Return coming close. If I had the hard puzzles of LCR (except the Monkey Wrench, screw that) with the plot of Return, I'd have the perfect game

[Wally B.]

1 hour ago, Xantospoc said:

Also, I am sad the italian version didn't have the 'A Pirate I was meant to be' song. I guess too hard to fix into the iMUSE

Apparently they tried to translate it into italian and part of the translation is into the code, but then came the notice from Lucasarts that every other version except english would have that scene cut because translating it well into every language was a pain. On youtube there's a video that explains how to see the italian version on ScummVM, but honestly I wish there was some way to hack the game to unlock it while playing normally (sure, the song won't be all translated, or at all, but it's one of the most iconic moments of the series)

[DM81]

1 hour ago, Xantospoc said:

 

Right now LCR is my favorite with Return coming close. If I had the hard puzzles of LCR (except the Monkey Wrench, screw that) with the plot of Return, I'd have the perfect game

 

Same for me.
 

But I really, REALLY enjoyed Return. I have the feeling that will grow with time, and it could overcome even MI2.

Now I just want to play it again slower, and discover every little detail.

 

[BaronGrackle]

2 hours ago, Wally B. said:

Apparently they tried to translate it into italian and part of the translation is into the code, but then came the notice from Lucasarts that every other version except english would have that scene cut because translating it well into every language was a pain. On youtube there's a video that explains how to see the italian version on ScummVM, but honestly I wish there was some way to hack the game to unlock it while playing normally (sure, the song won't be all translated, or at all, but it's one of the most iconic moments of the series)

Given Monkey Island's popularity in Germany, I'm surprised there has been no German fan translation/version ever. Or if there has, I've never heard of it.

[KestrelPi]

I don't know how I'll feel in a year but right now it's about:

 

1) MI2

2) MI1 = ReMI = Curse (I can't separate these at the moment, I like them all equally but for different reasons. If I absolutely HAD to, MI1, then ReMI, then Curse at the moment.)

3) Tales

4) EMI

 

 

[dwa]

Probably something like this:

1. Excellent: Monkey Island 2
2. Very good: Monkey Island 1 / Curse of Monkey Island
3. Nice but flawed: EFMI / Return to Monkey Island
4. Embarrassing: Tales

[BaronGrackle]

I need to see someone put Escape first with Curse as last. Then, I think I've seen each combination.

[OzzieMonkey]

Ok, I guess I should do a new ranking. Not gonna put all the other Lucasarts titles in this time though.

1. Curse

2. LeChuck's Revenge

3. Return

4. Secret

5. Tales

6. Escape

 

If you've seen my posts about the ending to Return, you may be under the impression that I don't like the game. Nope, I'm just having a bit of trouble digesting the final moments and what it all means for me, but it's overall really good. Just not top 2 good...but maybe that'll change over time. 

[Gins]

1. Revenge

2. Secret

3. Curse

4. Return

5. Escape

6. Tales

 

Revenge is without a doubt my favorite. It takes the already brilliant Secret and makes it more of everything in all the right ways, and it just resonates with me. Guybrush's evolution from a nice wannabe to an experienced pirate who becomes full of himself to his own detriment becomes more and more brilliant every time I experience it.

 

It has its flaws for sure, especially with some unfair puzzles and tedious backtracking, but these things are annoying once, the whole rest of the game keeps on giving on every replay, discussion and listen to the soundtrack.

 

Secret in second because it is the original and an eternal classic. It is the giant from whose shoulders Revenge leaped even higher.

 

CMI is so close to tying with Secret. It is in my opinion a perfect point and click. Just that Revenge and Secret hit my personal tastes better, but Curse is a fine entry point to the series.

 

These three will likely always stay this way for me. The other three each have their own issues but like with pizza, even the worst Monkey Island games are still amazing.

 

Return didn't quite reach my hopes and dreams but it is a perfect love letter to the series as a whole and is Ron's official blessing for the fans to accept all Monkey Island games before and after it as canon regardless of the team.

 

EMI suffered most from its controls but was otherwise very Curse-y to me. It jumped the shark in the end by trying to connect everything with everything - Herman, and the Robot - but you know what? Back then I found that awesome. And I liked Monkey Kombat

 

Tales is last on this list, but as said, to be the worst MI game is still no slouch (and as said the bottom three constantly change for me). I didn't care much for the Telltale formular overall, and it was the height of the "casualification" era, which alienated oldschool fans who wanted hard puzzles in favor of expanding the audience and saving the genre. And while many games from that time weren't for me, I believe they achieved that and I'm grateful for it.

Edited October 16, 2022 by Gins
phone typos

[ThunderPeel2001]

Hmm. Right now I think it's...

 

1. Curse

2. Revenge

3. Secret

4. Return

5. Escape

6. Tales

 

I think they're all quite different beasts when it comes down to it. In some ways Return feels the least "Monkey Island" game of the series... and weirdly I feel Curse might feel the most. (I know that barely makes sense, because Secret is the one that defined was MI means (and Revenge doubled down on it, and Return was made by Ron), but it's just how I feel: Curse somehow took all the elements we love about MI and made the best thing you could with them.

 

This is all subject to change.

[Jake]

1 hour ago, ThunderPeel2001 said:

we

It's really okay for you to just be talking about yourself and your own tastes! Really no need to talk for others in a thread called your favorite Monkey Island game.

[Remi]

1 hour ago, ThunderPeel2001 said:

Curse somehow took all the elements we love about MI and made the best thing you could with them.

 

We = you.

[BaronGrackle]

He does use the "I" pronoun five times overall and the "we" pronoun once when referring to the elements one loves about Monkey Island.

 

I suppose it's imprecise because not everyone loves the same things. But the things we do love probably have a lot of overlap... and in that sentence, the main point of contention would probably center on "made the best thing you could with them".

 

Good idea for a topic: What are all the elements you love about Monkey Island?

[Gins]

14 minutes ago, BaronGrackle said:

Good idea for a topic: What are all the elements you love about Monkey Island?

I agree, a topic like that or "what defines Monkey Island for you" would be insightful.

 

Will you make it?